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This small waterfront hotel in the Meatpacking District was the location from to of the Anvil, one of the most famous, or infamous, gay sex clubs in the city. Before closing voluntarily after the City began to shutter gay venues due to AIDS, the Anvil also had a disco, live performances, sex exhibitions, and drag shows and attracted a celebrity crowd.

Eleventh Avenue side of West 14th Street. Photo by Christopher D. The Tenth Avenue side of West 14th Street. Credit: Christopher D. This section of the Hudson River was then the busiest waterfront in the world. By the early s, the building had become known as the Hideaway Motel. Gay Scene in January noted that it was then a leather bar known as the Meatrack.

The same newspaper reported in April that it had a new name — the Anvil — and in May that it had live shows on Saturdays and Sundays. The New York Post later reported that the Anvil was run by the Liberation Social Club, incorporated inthat the owner of record was Alan Goldstein of Queens, and that it was briefly intended for heterosexuals.

Most patrons arrived at the entrance on 14th Street after a. A bouncer strictly controlled who was allowed to enter, with a preference for masculine men; women were prohibited except for celebrities. The Anvil operated on two levels.

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On the ground floor was the main bar with go-go boys, a dance floor, and a performance area. In its earlier days, the Anvil became notorious for its sex exhibitions here, and later there were periodic drag shows and other types of performances. The Anvil was the unfortunate site of two murders in By it had been raided numerous times by the SLA and the police, but managed to continue in operation.

It was surveilled by police under the recently-enacted Police Padlock Law, which enabled the closing of places with illegal activities. The owner and managers were accused of illegally operating without a liquor license, and as a not-for-profit, without paying state taxes. The Anvil closed voluntarily on November 9. The Liberty Inn continued to operate here over the next four decades, as a reportedly clean, and nearly upscale, by-the-hour hotel.

Its neighborhood, the Meatpacking District, however, had increasingly gentrified around it. Hyundai acquired the property in Septemberand its future is unclear. Steven C. This project is enriched by your participation! Do you have your own images of this site? Or a story to share? Would you like to suggest a different historic site?